"Wife-beater" as article of clothing

[Bob Haas]

Good point, Ron, but just for the sake of argument (things are slow
following the semester, and I'm putting off writing) couldn't such a term
finding a language community some 40--going on 50--years after the film
reflect not the sentiments of the film, but the callousness of the folks who
actually use such a term?  You know, the kind of TV viewers who actually
enjoy COPS.

> From: RonButters at AOL.COM
> Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 16:27:23 EDT
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: "Wife-beater" as article of clothing
>
> My own scepticism about the putative STREETCAR/WIFE-BEATER connection is
> further heightened by my own acquaintance with the term. I have been familiar
> with STREETCAR for over 40 years, but I never heard the term WIFE-BEATER =
> 'white tank-top-type undergarment' until the last few months.